Michael's Notes - Thoughts On Worship, Leadership & Fitness

Worship Services, what is the real purpose?

For the last few weeks in our worship leadership planning times we have been discussing the meaning of ‘worship.’ Some of the phrases that were presented were:

         Reflect the glory of God

         Ascribe to God honor and glory

         Engage in a conversation with God that includes times of listening and talking

        

If we were to ask the question ‘what is the purpose of a corporate worship celebration?’ many of our answers would be similar and be something like this: Our worship services exist to make God’s glory known and by our actions ascribe worth to him. Or… ‘the public declaration of God and our response to that declaration, done in a gathering of mostly believers and some non-believers in which the believers gain support for their faith and the non-believers witness an outward expression of conversation between the church and its savior.’

 

In February 2007, Starbuck Chairman Howard Schultz sent a memo to his CEO, that somehow found its way onto the Internet. In the memo, Schultz expresses concern that his company has veered from its original charter. He cited a series of internal decisions that eventually led to a dilution of what customers had come to expect from a visit to Starbucks.

 

Have we lost sight of that goal of our corporate worship experiences when we add ‘things’ of culture to make our services ‘relevant’?  W.A. Tozer wrote: The Christian church was never intended to function as a current events forum.

 

There are many things we have added to our corporate gatherings that by themselves have tremendous value, but often take away from the conversation of worship.

 

Do we really need

announcements for up-coming events to take time from the conversation?

 

a movie clip that we think is cute?

 

a special occasion song just because it brings warm memories to our minds?

 

a skit that might have some small link to the theme of the day?

 

recognitions of birthdays or anniversaries?

 

None of the items in this list are bad, but I believe we need to evaluate what we allow to take up time in our services that are not really worship.  What we do need to reserve time for are:

 

         Prayer

         Ascribing to God Worth

         Praise

         God’s spoken Word

         God’s word explained

         Opportunities for response

         Time for reflection

Reaching an Un-reached People Group

Yesterday at ClearView I had the opportunity to explain to our people why our pastor was out of town.  The reason: he is in Mali West Africa on a Missions Exploration trip, investigating how ClearView can make an impact for Christ on an un-reached people group. The definition of an un-reached people group is a village that has never heard the message of Jesus Christ. It is almost hard to believe that in this age of technology and ease of travel that there are groups who have never heard, but that is the still the case.  It is our desire as a congregation to be an instrument that helps reach these people for Christ. We understand this could be a long process but we are willing to make that investment.

 

Just this morning we received the first update from the group that our pastor is traveling with. Here is that update:

 

Yesterday the first to members of the TN team visited a Jula village.  They were welcomed to visit and had the opportunity to share two stories with the chief and others.  After sharing the DPM story, they were able to share the panorama story of C2CR.  The chief stopped them in the middle to ask a very important question, "How many sons did Abraham have?" "What were their names?"  He was checking to see if we were talking about the same Abraham as they know who fathered Ishmael.  They were allowed to finish the story explaining about Father's design and plan for each of our lives.  Even though those who heard were not receptive, they each had the opportunity to here the Truth.  Men were sent, they have heard, but they did not receive.  Ask Father to remove the scales from their eyes of the Jula that they may see and repent.  Ask that His words may never leave their minds and that as they dwell on what they have heard, they will receive.   

 

The rest of the Tennessee team finally arrived at 6:30am.  They four men are exhausted.  We will be dividing up into two teams, loading vehicles and heading out at 10am.  Please pry for these 4 who just arrived especially that they will quickly be refreshed and adjusted to the time and climate.  The other two men arrived two days ago and are ready to go.  Ask Father to go ahead and behind us to hem us in with His protection as we travel and for each of us to have a keen, sensitive spirit of discernment to know His voice and to recognize the man of peace in each village we enter.  Ask for openness among the people to hear and receive Father's Words.  We will be visiting and staying the night in each in the villages of the following people: Bolon, Dafin, Senufo Syenara, Gana.  Pray that each of these pastors will have an acute awareness of Father's presence and instruction concerning who His choice is for their individual congregation to work among.

 

We echo the prayers of this missionary from Mali as we pray for our pastor and the others pastors who are with him.

Advice for a Young Worship Leader: smile

I can remember as if it were yesterday, when it was actually over thirty years ago. As a high school student my local church asked me to lead worship for the services. I can’t remember if I was given this chance because they recognized some talent or I was their only choice. (It was a very small church.)

 

We were having dinner with some family friends and without fanfare or introduction the lady made a comment about my leading: ‘you need to smile when you lead. Worshiping the Lord is something to smile about.’

 

Today, thirty years later, I am a worship leader at a local church and almost every week I am reminded by that memory the importance of communicating not just through words and melody but with our body language.

 

I know there are songs that don’t call for a smile, but your face and body expression still need to communicate.

 

I am amazed at how many people can make great music and communicate effectively through the words and melody and yet stand motionless without a smile while they sing. Honestly, this is the wrong person to have on stage leading. Being a worship leader means communicating and great communication must include pleasant body language that states I believe what I am singing about and I believe in the God I am singing about.

 

Smiling while singing did not come easy for me, it is something I had to practice. Yes I practiced this. I wanted to make sure that how I presented myself on stage did not hinder someone else from worshipping.

 

Is it time we look at the people who lead or help us lead worship each week? Don’t we need to see how they are communicating? It is more, much more than making beautiful music.

Preparing for Worship: a Saturday Night to-do list

Here is a to-do list that I will work through before going to bed tonight that I hope will make me better prepared for worship tomorrow.

 

1. think through my early Sunday morning routine, making sure everything is ready
2. read through the scripture passages of the last few weeks’ sermons, remembering the last sermons and what God said to me during those study times.
3. read ahead in the book of the bible we are studying (Genesis) asking God to speak to me as I read
4. pray and ask God to prepare my heart to be ready to receive what He has for me in service tomorrow.
5. look over the worship outline, praying for everyone who will participate
6. pray that God will use me to help lead those who attend into a worship conversation
7. pray specifically for my pastor that God will continue to give him clear direction about tomorrow’s sermon
8. pray for everyone who will attend the service that they will come ready to meet God
9. pray for those who may come to service tomorrow who do not have a personal relationship with God, that their heart would be open to hearing from Him.

 

Do you have a Saturday night routine? How do you prepare for Sunday worship?

Leading a Worship Planning Meeting

I work with an amazing group of people who make up the worship planning team. Each week we, the worship leadership team, meet to review and discuss the worship experiences at ClearView. When these meetings began a few years back, they were about going over every detail of the service. They have now evolved into something bigger and I believe more important: communicating about the why and less about the how and what.

Granted the ‘how’ and ‘what’ are important. We do understand the need to make sure we have the appropriate elements planned and that all the details are covered.

Much more important than the ‘how’ and ‘what’ is the ‘why.’ The ‘why’ list for us would include:
•    ClearView Core Values:
    The authority of God’s Word…it is God’s word
        2 Timothy 3:16
        “It is the substance of our teaching”
        2 Timothy 4:2
    Worship in Spirit and Truth
        John 4:24
    Transformed lives impacting their spheres of influence
        Ephesians 6:19-20
    Taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth starting at home
        Acts 1:8
        Romans 10:14
    Saturate everything in prayer
        Ephesians 6:18
•    Understanding a biblical definition of worship which would include conversations around such words as ‘reverence’ and ‘relevance.’
•    Vision for each worship venue.

It is our role as worship leaders to evaluate everything in our area against the above ‘why’ list. Once we have used the ‘whys’ we then can get to the ‘what’ and ‘how.’

Preparing for Worship: Am I too Comfortable?

It is Saturday again and in just a few more hours many will gather in buildings around this country for worship services.

 

I have to admit I live a very comfortable life. God has graciously provided for my needs and a multitude of my wants. The same can be said for most Americans. A quick inventory reveals we have much more than the majority of the Earth’s population.

 

With that said I raise the question: does our comfortable lifestyle and things make it hard for us to cry out to God in worship?

 

In the book The Hole In Our Gospel, the author Richard Stearns, president of World Vision describes an African church:

·         A small congregation of fifty that meets under a large shade tree because they have no building.

·         They work the land to provide the food they need to survive.

·         They rely on God for every mouthful.

·         They have endured two decades of civil war, every family has suffered loss

·         Clean water is not available

·         Most live on barely a dollar a day.

 

In the midst of this hardship the author goes on to describe their worship:

·         There is great joy in their worship as these people cry out to the Lord and feel His comfort in the midst of their need.

·         This small community comes together to worship and to celebrate the gospel.

 

As Americans what will be our attitude as we enter places of worship tomorrow? More importantly what will be my attitude?  Am I truly grateful for the reality of a relationship with the One who has forgiven me? Am I so comfortable with my life that I minimize the gift of grace?

 

God help me that I don’t become too comfortable with the things you have provided to loose sight of the salvation You have given by Your sacrifice.

Ministry Leadership – ‘by faith’

To begin our worship planning, at ClearView , this week we took the time to read aloud Chapter 11 of Hebrews. (There is something powerful about hearing God’s Word read out loud.) The heading over this section of scripture in the Holman Christian Standard Bible reads: Heroes of Faith. In this chapter of 40 verses, the phrase ‘by faith’ is used seventeen times and the word ‘faith’ another five times.

When all is said and done, will I be counted among the ones who lived those two words?

This week I was reminded how easy it is to rely on our own capabilities to get things done when really there is so much more that can be done by implementing “by faith.” I confessed to my staff this morning that I have been guilty of relying on me.  The potential of ministry is so much greater when ‘by faith’ is applied. That is where I want to be…that is what I want said about me: “he lived ‘by faith.’”

I have served in places where it was the norm to plan to do only what we knew we could manage with our resources, when in the end God provided more than we needed. We took steps knowing because we saw, not because we lived ‘by faith.’

Granted God expects us to use wisdom to make decisions, however, don’t we often limit God by what we can see, not what we trust He can do?

So how do we apply those two words to ministry and ministry leadership? If God has called us to serve he has called us to prepare. Being placed in leadership carries with it the burden to prepare. When we have prepared all we can, we place our faith in Him to accomplish through us more than we could ever imagine. We seek God for His wisdom and ask that we are sensitive and open to His invitation to join Him in ministry. We listen to what God is saying through circumstances and preparation but always willing to follow ‘by faith.’

Living and serving ‘by faith’ is an act of worship. Relying on God ‘by faith’ is a choice now for the strength to put those words into action.

A Caution for Worship Leaders and worshipers

What is God really saying about our worship?
Today I found a note I had written some time ago that just had these words on it: Worship Defiled, Malachi 1…so I headed that way.

As a worshiper and worship leader I was very challenged at what God stated through the writer. The passage is directed to the priests, the ministers who were in charge of the services. At my place of worship that's me.

God’s statements are something like this:

I love you!

Don’t you remember all the good things I have done for you?
Children honor their parents, a servant respects his master, so where are the honor and respect I deserve?

The conversation becomes more heated when God asks:

“Why do you despise me by bringing unacceptable gifts to worship? You might as well shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices cannot be offered!”

Okay that got me…is God thinking the same thing about what I bring to worship? I am humbled by the very idea of that thought crossing God’s mind.

As I put the final preparations on this week’s services and look toward the future, I ask myself: “have I done all I can to make sure everything is at its best?” But more importantly: “am I willing to come to worship humbly, respectfully and honoring God in everything I do and bring?"

Preparing for Worship: prayer

One of the core values of ClearView is that we believe in the power of prayer. Admittedly we have not done a good job practicing corporate prayer.  This has become a major topic of worship planning meetings as we investigate ways to incorporate more prayer into our services.

 

In planning for this week’s service in our worship center, we have set aside a dedicated amount of time for prayer. This week’s prayer emphasis will be centered on the needs of ‘the people.’ At a planned time in the service our pastor, Mark Marshall, will invite those who desire prayer for a specific need to come to the front of the worship center where they will be met by trained prayer counselors who will pray with them.

 

So that these who choose to come down for prayer do not feel isolated, the entire congregation will be asked to stand and participate in the prayer by following the worship team as they lead in a song of prayer.

 

Prayer should be the foundation of any faith-based group and ClearView is not an exception.  The worship planning staff will continue to seek God on ways to add meaningful prayer times to the services in the worship center and chapel.

___________________

 

Also this Sunday we continue in the sermon series, Songs for Summer, a study of selected Psalms. This week we dive into Psalm 107. You can be better prepared to absorb God’s word by reading this Psalm before arriving on campus Sunday.

Sabbatical: one more week

For the last eleven years I have served in a leadership position at ClearView Church in Franklin, Tennessee. Just recently it became the policy of this church to award a seven week sabbatical to any minister on the staff who has served for seven years. 

I began my sabbatical on May 27 with three goals: one to relax and unplug from the routine, two take some time to learn from other leaders and three study about some radical disciples in church history..  I believe I have accomplished these goals and still have one more week to go.

In the last seven weeks I have been able to:

• study church history through a trip to England and Scotland lead by two distinguished professors
• visit four churches seeing how God is using them to reach their community.
• interview thirteen business leaders focusing on their thoughts on leadership
• spend some time with my family on vacation

Tomorrow I take the last trip of this sabbatical time. My wife and I will fly to Seattle where we will board a cruise ship that will take us on a tour of the Alaska coast.

The sabbatical is coming to a close. I am grateful I have had this time and I look forward to being back with my co-workers and friends at ClearView on Monday July 20.

P.S. I will not be uploading another post to this blog until at least July 19.